First Post

Where to start on a new Blog? We are Fran and Jean-Guy Nadeau from Victoria, BC, members of the Canadian Forces Sailing Association and the Blue Water Cruising Association.

This is our second blog. The first was on Sailblog.Com last year when we were sailing with friends out of Puerto Vallarta. Our plans to hop across the Pacific with them in 2008 have been thwarted by technical problems. Our wonderful experience of sailing the west coast of Mexico and, in particular, the Sea of Cortez, encouraged us to look for our own boat.

We began our search for a suitable craft in mid-2007. Yachtworld.Com proved to be the best source of boats once again. In 2003 we found Antares, a Peterson 34 in Seattle through this great site. This time we found Gigi, a Camper & Nicholson 42, for sale by Yachfinders in San Diego. We went to see Gigi in early December and decided that she was the boat for us. Gigi was built in 1974, the 6^th hull of 14 made by one of the oldest and most respected yacht building firms in the world.

Trying to find information on Camper & Nicholson boats proved to be quite a challenge until I contacted a surveyor in the UK who referred me to Jeremy Lines, a long time employee of the company and now their official, “volunteer archivist”. Jeremy was a wealth of information. He has a file on all of the vessels built by the company and was able to tell me specific information on this boat, including all of her former owners. It was through Jeremy that last owner. Since then it has been a fascinating exercise to contact previous owners and getting first hand information.

The purchase was realized through the cooperation of Larry Glowaski of Advanced Yacht Sales in Sidney, BC and Clark Hardy of Yachtfinders, in San Diego. Complicating the transaction was the transfer of the boat from US to Canadian registry. This was assisted by a documentation research company at in Anacortes, Washington. We took the opportunity to rename the vessel to the original “Gosling” that had been given to her by her first owner when she was launched in 1974.

Getting started on our cruising adventure will be quite a challenge. The survey revealed quite a few items that will have to be attended to prior to departing San Diego. The most important aspects will be attended to in early January when the boat will be hauled for a 2 week period to give her a hull makeover and cutlass bearing change. Fran and I will be arriving in mid-February to attend to the other survey items and get her ready to sail south for Mexico. Our son and his girlfriend have been pressed as crew for that portion of the trip.

Our intentions are to get used to her over the next few winters in Mexican waters and then we’ll decide if we want to venture further afield. Fran has always wanted to see the Galapagos and we still dream of seeing the South pacific. Like so many other cruisers we want to do this while we are still able. In Mexico we will be sailing in waters frequented by many Canadians. When time comes to store Gosling for the hot summer months we will sail her to San Carlos and have her hauled at the Marina Seca facility. In the meantime, there won’t be much activity on this site until we get to San Diego.

Keep in touch with us and see if we actually realize our dream….